In 2008 I bought Honey Lake Plantation as a place to retire and to utilize as a family retreat. I was going to end my entrepreneurial career and sit back, but God had other plans for me, and I built Honey Lake Plantation Resort and Spa beginning in 2009, because I felt that it was far too beautiful of a place for one family to enjoy exclusively for itself. It has a reverent serenity about it, and the Spirit of God resides there and it needed to be shared with others.

My youngest son joined me as a partner in it, and we conducted weddings, retreats, and the like for several years and then once again I felt God’s mysterious calling, only this time to fulltime ministry in the Jesus Alliance, but what to do with Honey Lake? By then we’d built 91,000 square feet of buildings including Honey Lake Church and had been convinced by God that it should be dedicated to Him, but I needed to sell it to obtain funding for my ministry and to support my wife and me as we enter the golden years, and our son and his family.

What worried me the most was what I would do if a secular buyer came along. I wanted the resort to be dedicated to God. The answer was easy, pray, and pray, and pray, that a buyer would come along that would use it for the glory of God. Yesterday that prayer was answered when a contract was signed and soon a new owner will take over the reins and Honey Lake. It is now scheduled to reopen sometime towards the end of the year. Their intent is to use the facility to conduct weddings, spiritual retreats, and camps for a vigorous youth ministry. The owner, Safe Haven, is affiliated with Celebration Church in Jacksonville, a 16,000 member church with a robust millennial program.

My wife and I will live just down the street on a 1000 acre parcel that I retained and I’ve already begun construction on my new home. I look forward with great anticipation to assisting them with getting the resort back up and running, especially the youth program.

So God answered our prayers and the spiritual purpose of building Honey Lake Resort will be preserved and I will be free to build the Jesus Alliance unencumbered by any business responsibilities.

Thank you Jesus!

I wondered why God had called me to build the resort in the first place when it became obvious that soon after it was completed He was calling me away from it towards the Jesus Alliance. As I’ve prayed about it I’ve become convinced that God wanted me to supply the vision and to build it, but not to operate it. It is amazing to me how that worked out, because I love to build, but hate the operations side of the equation. God supplied the perfect solution as He always does.

I would imagine that the Jesus Alliance will be similar. I will capture God’s vision and work night and day to build it into a global entity and then when it matures God will bring in those whose talents lie in the operational aspect of it.

That suits me just fine. I just want to be a part of something bigger than me that will glorify God. I read Rick Warren’s devotional today and I excerpted part of it that precisely describes how I feel about my life: The goal of my life is not pleasure, it’s not possessions, it’s not prestige, it’s not politics, it’s not power, and it’s not popularity. It’s not anything that the world values. The goal of my life is the glory of God.

Well said Rick – Well said!

Have a great weekend, and speaking of Honey Lake, whatever you do don’t miss our 2nd Sunday speaker talk radio host Preston Scott at Honey Lake Church this Sunday at 11 a.m. It will be a Spirit filled service and the beauty of Honey Lake, well you simply will not find anywhere to go that it will surpass it. After church we will have a covered dish lunch and you are welcome to eat whether you bring a dish or not.

Romans 11:36

“For everything comes from God alone. Everything lives by his power, and everything is for his glory.”